9 Women Share Exactly How Much It Cost Them to Give Birth

The prices range from not so much to "You charge WHAT to pull a baby out?!"

I almost had a breakdown after my son was born, and it wasn't due to new-mom anxiety. Despite having "great" health insurance, my husband and I were handed more than $5,000 in hospital bills.

As if the price tag wasn't painful enough, the invoices trickled in over the span of nine months. We'd scramble to pay off a large bill and—bam!—another one would arrive in the mail that was due in two weeks.
  
I tried to fight a few of the more outrageous ones, like the $800 bill for "blood" since I never had a blood transfusion. I was laughed at by a hospital administrator—she told me that I'd never be able to successfully get rid of the charge, that we were billed because the hospital had blood "in case" I needed it...but I hadn't.

We had saved up for months to lessen the financial blow of my maternity leave and new baby expenses. That money was wiped out in a month, all because of hospital bills. I was already frazzled with learning how to keep a baby alive, and the unexpected financial stress didn't help.


Unfortunately, my frustration isn't rare. Countless families have gone through the same situation. While some women have tiny hospital bills after giving birth, they seem to be the minority.

Planning to have a child one day or just want to see how bad you had it compared to other women? Check out the hospital bills of several women from across the country below—all of whom were insured—then get expert input on how you can keep costs at bay when you give birth.

7 Ways to Increase Your Odds of Getting Pregnant

Let the baby-making commence!

According to what you learned in middle school sex ed class, getting pregnant is easy-peasy. You practically high-five a guy, and you’ll get knocked up.

But getting pregnant can be way harder than it looks (especially if you’re relying on the high-five method). According to fertility expert Peter Ahlering, M.D., most healthy women under the age of 35 have a 20 to 25 percent chance of getting pregnant each month when they’re actually trying. And those odds decrease the older you get after that. “There is more involved than one may think,” says Ahlering.

When I tried to get pregnant the first time, I was shocked to realize that I really didn’t know how to make a baby—or rather, how to make the whole process easier. I thought I could get knocked up every time I had sex, which explains why I bought pregnancy tests about as often as I order takeout (you’re welcome, pregnancy test industry).


Ready to make a baby? Try these tips from top fertility experts to increase the odds you’ll be prego ASAP…that is, if you want to be.

Take Prenatal Vitamins
You’ve probably heard that it’s a good idea to take prenatal vitamins when you’re pregnant, but doing so before you’re with child can up your chances of having a baby, says fertility specialist Gloria Richard-Davis, M.D., coauthor of Planning Parenthood. “Eating healthy will raise your chances of conceiving," she explains, "and prenatal vitamins help fill in any holes in the mother’s diet.” Look for one with vitamin B6—it’s been shown to increase fertility—and take it with Omega-3 fish oil, which helps aid absorption of the vitamins.

Try to Time It
Yeah, timing when you get busy is a little unsexy, but since you were going to have sex anyway…you might as well make it count. Having sex when you’re ovulating is important, but there’s a little more to it. “There is a four- to five-day window around ovulation, starting two days prior to actual ovulation, [during which] a female can conceive,” says Ahlering. He recommends trying a couple of times during that period if you can swing it. How can you tell when you’re ovulating? You can pick up an ovulation kit at your local pharmacy, or you can save money and keep tabs on your vaginal discharge—when there’s more than usual and it’s similar to the consistency of egg whites, you’re probably ovulating.

How Much Sex Should You Have When You’re Trying to Get Pregnant?

Find out the sweet spot.
Kim Kardashian has been pretty open these past several months about how she and husband Kanye are hard at work trying to create a second bundle of joy. She even told sister Khloe that she’s having sex 500 times a day in a promo for the new season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, which starts on March 15.

That’s obviously an exaggeration, but her comment made us wonder: Will getting it on several times a day increase your odds of conceiving?

The answer, surprisingly, is not exactly. “The general guideline for couples with no known fertility issues who are ready to become parents is to have frequent sex, which is defined as sex every day or every other day,” says Elizabeth Fino, M.D., assistant professor of ob-gyn and reproductive specialist at the NYU Fertility Center in New York City.

Knocking boots at this rate means that a guy’s sperm will be fresh and healthy, ideal for fertilization. “More frequent than that puts a lot of pressure on couples to get busy, and we don’t want to make it too stressful,” says Fino.

The advice changes, however, if a couple sees a fertility specialist and the guy is diagnosed with issues (which is the case with approximately 40 percent of fertility-challenged couples). “If there’s a problem with a man’s sperm count or his ejaculate, it’s advised that the couple only have sex once every two or three days, which gives a man the opportunity to build up the best quality and quantity of sperm,” says Fino.

On the other hand, going without action for more than eight days can backfire; at that point, a man’s ejaculate will contain a higher percentage of older or even dead sperm—which are useless when it comes to conceiving. We don’t know what Kimye’s doctors are advising, but even five times a day is clearly too much of a good thing when it comes to making babies.